Which was another thing I needed to talk to Zasen about. This girl was going to need more to wear than merely summer dresses. She needed shoes too! We'd been putting it off, mostly because Zasen didn't want to let himself believe she'd be staying. Then again, was she staying?
Because she'd only come to our house so we could watch her. Sure, we needed to keep protecting her, but one day that would no longer be true. Then what? Once she was an official Dragon, would she get her own place? Would we ever see her again?
No, I refused to think about that. One thing at a time, and today's thing was important. Unfortunately, I also wasn't really sure where or how to start. We'd been avoiding saying stuff around her for so long, I wasn't sure what she understood and what would be completely foreign to her.
"Okay," I decided, "so you know we're venomous, right?" I asked.
She nodded. "Tamin bit Elias and then stung him. That made Elias die, but he screamed first. I had to smother him so no one else would hear."
No remorse on her face. No shame for her actions. She'd muffled the man's cries, watched him die, and didn't seem bothered at all. This was what Zasen had been talking about last night.
"Okay," I said yet again. "Um, well, did you know there's a way to get immune?"
"A real antidote?" she asked, sitting up. "Is that why Zasen was worried when I offered the water to Phineas?"
"Not exactly," I admitted. "See, immunity to Dragon venom takes repeated exposure. We realized this when tailless women became immune after carrying a tailed child. The babies are born with venom, and they expel some while in the womb. The mothers are exposed to small amounts over time throughout the pregnancy - "
"I don't want to get pregnant!" she gasped, pulling into herself.
"You don't have to," I promised quickly. "That's just how we learned it was possible. Now, we know you can drink it."
"Without needing to get married?" she asked.
I nodded again, overly aware how defensive she was about the idea of being tied to a man. "But you have to do it every day for about two weeks."
"Fourteen days," she said, nodding to show she understood.
Which was when I remembered Zasen's other comment about the calendars. "Ayla, two weeks is ten days for me."
She paused, her lips parted, and then a tiny little giggle slipped out. "Oh. Right."
"So for ten days," I explained, "we'll have to give you venom in increasing doses. It will make your heart speed up and you might get short of breath, but it's safe. Most tailless women in Lorsa have done it, and all of the tailless men."
"Why only most of the women?" she asked.
"Because some had tailed children first," I explained. "They got immune that way."
"I'd rather drink it," she assured me. "When can we start?"
"Not today," I told her. "I know I didn't sleep enough, and you were up earlier than me. So once you're well rested and recovered from the battle, how about then?"
Her face fell. "Oh. Yeah. Okay."
"Because I don't want it to accidentally hurt you," I hurried to say, seeing her disappointment. "Not because I'm trying to keep it from you. That's why I wanted to talk to you about it today. I was hoping it might give you a reason to rest a little?"
"I'll go to bed early tonight so we can do it tomorrow," she promised.
"And maybe let me help with the floor?" I asked.
Ayla pressed her lips together and looked at me for a little too long. When she finally answered, it wasn't at all what I expected.
"No."
"No?"
"No," she said again. "I want to make sure every last bit of Mole is gone, and you don't clean well enough, Kanik. You might leave some of them behind, and they don't get to stay in this house."
I had to shove my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. "I see."
"You might be good at teaching," she explained, "but this? I know how to clean. It's all women are good for, you know, so I'm going to clean them all away. Then maybe you men will realize I'm not useless!"
"It's not all women are good for."
She paused, her face snapping back to mine. "What?"
"Cleaning is not all women are good for," I reminded her. "Maybe that's what the Moles say, but they're liars, right? That means it's a lie. In Lorsa, Ayla, women are good for a lot of things. They're doctors and hunters and seamstresses. They're teachers and cooks and fletchers who put the feathers on arrows. In Lorsa, women are good for a whole lot more than cleaning."
"But I'm only good at cleaning," she mumbled.
"And sewing," I reminded her.
She nodded. "I can mend clothes!"
"I actually meant sewing little boys," I teased. "Sewing wounds. You also killed men very well with a weapon that wasn't made for it. Tamin's bow was designed to only shoot cloth targets, but you killed two men with it."
"I killed more with the gun," she admitted.
"And I don't have any clue how to use one," I told her. "So that's another thing you're good at. I'm pretty sure it's also nothing like cleaning."
